He has a medical condition called haemochromatosis which requires him to give blood every second month to rid his body of high iron levels.

Last month, without warning, the Geraldton Blood Bank shut it doors for good after more than 40 years of service.

For residents, the closest centre is now more than 350 kilometres away at a branch in Joondalup.

Following the closure of Northam and Broome late last year, there is now no blood bank north of the Perth metropolitan area, servicing regional Western Australia.

It begs the question, which of the 11 remaining facilities in the state will be next to go?

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service's Cheryl Holland is responsible for the management of the state's blood banks.

She says staffing issues are to blame for the Geraldton decision.

"This has never been about the willingness of the population of Geraldton to want to come in and donate," she said.

"This is about our ability to staff it and we have not been able to do that properly for the last three and a half years."

Ms Holland also maintains that donor numbers were well short of what was desired.

"We had to close at various times and we were collecting on average only 34 donations per week," she said.

"I could name an ideal number but the problem is I still can't get the staff so whether it's ten or its 10,000 people, I just can't get the staff needed to the collect the blood.

"It's not just sticking a needle in somebody's arm and taking a pint of blood, it is far more complex than that, highly regulated and the systems and the auditing procedures we go through are very expensive."

Ms Holland says staffing problems are affecting blood banks all over the state but she is uncertain if more will be forced to close like Geraldton.

Cost effective

The Red Cross is funded by the National Blood Authority to operate and manage the blood banks.

The NBA's acting general manager Stephanie Gunn gives a slightly different reason for the closure.

"One of the responsibilities is to establish the most cost-effective blood supply that they can," she said.

"If you have to pay your staff for the entire period that they're there but you only have a very small number of donors coming through the door, it's a simple method of cost over the number of collections.

"We ask all of our suppliers and anybody who is accountable for taxpayer's money to be efficient and effective as we possibly can be.

"It's just one element of what the Blood Service needs to do, to keep reviewing their costs and the effectiveness of all of their operations."

In a letter to Mr Brownrigg, Ms Gunn says the cost of blood collection in Geraldton is significantly above the national average.

She says the closure of the centre is part of a strategy to ensure that the Blood Service can continue to ensure security of supply that is also cost-effective.

Ms Holland says the closure of the bank will not affect the supply of blood to Geraldton as it is trucked to regional hospitals on request.

Fallout

It is Mr Brownrigg and other donors who are dealing with the fallout.

"Just after they closed the blood bank, I got results from a previous blood test," he said.

"My iron levels are supposed to be between nine and 30 and mine was 41."

Usually Mr Brownrigg would book an appointment with the blood bank for the procedure and see his blood stored to donate to others.

Luckily, he spoke with a nurse from his work at the Geraldton Regional Prison who said she would do it.

"They took it and just threw it away," he said.

"It's just a waste to me because it could be used for something but it's the only option I've got."

With the demise of the Geraldton service, the Red Cross is encouraging locals to book appointments with blood banks when they are in Perth or contact their GPs for help.

The National Party Member for Moore, Grant Woodhams, says booking appointments in Perth is just not practical.

"If I was going to Perth in the day, the last thing I want to do at the end of the day after a five hour drive is go and give blood," he said. A

"Also, the last thing I want to do before a five hour drive is give blood."

Petition

A former blood bank employee, Judy Caudwell, has organised a petition which she hopes will be enough to reverse the Red Cross decision in Geraldton.